Semiconductor apparatuses are typically produced through thinning of a semiconductor wafer by grinding the non-circuit forming surface of the semiconductor wafer (back grinding process), formation of electrodes on the non-circuit forming surface of the semiconductor wafer after grinding by sputtering or the like (back metal process), and so on. These processes are performed with a surface protection film affixed to the circuit forming surface of a semiconductor wafer to prevent stains caused by grinding debris or grinding water on the circuit forming surface of the semiconductor wafer.
The surface protection film to be used in such a situation is required to be capable of conforming satisfactorily with irregularities in the circuit forming surface of a semiconductor wafer and being peelable without leaving any adhesive residue in peeling.
Proposed as such a surface protection film are, for example, a surface protection film including a substrate layer, an intermediate layer, and an adhesive layer in the order presented, wherein the intermediate layer contains an acrylic polymer and an isocyanate crosslinking agent, and the adhesive layer contains an acrylic polymer having a carbon-carbon double bond, an isocyanate crosslinking agent, and a photopolymerization initiator (PTL 1); and a surface protection film including a substrate layer, an intermediate layer, and an adhesive layer in the order presented, wherein the intermediate layer contains an acrylic polymer, an isocyanate-based crosslinking agent, an ultraviolet-curable oligomer, and a photopolymerization initiator, and the adhesive layer contains an acrylic polymer having a carbon-carbon double bond, an isocyanate-based crosslinking agent, and a photopolymerization initiator (PTL 2). These surface protection films allow easy peeling through curing of the ultraviolet-curable oligomer contained in the adhesive layer or the intermediate layer by ultraviolet irradiation in peeling.